Chapter 44 #2
Tension rippled through my stomach, but I swallowed it away, taking a deep breath. Caelan watched me, a slight frown on his face.
“Valerian,” Aenan said, studying the maps again. “It’s like she knew. Knew we were going to be there that day.” He focused on me. “I just can’t work out how. What can you tell me about her?”
“Not much, really. She’s human – I think you already know that?
” I continued at his nod. “She told me she’s been here since birth, maybe even was born here.
She doesn’t know who her human parents were or where she came from, can only ever remember being with the Dark Fae.
She had a Light Fae nursemaid for the first nine years of her life, but then raised herself.
Oh, and Vaeyl—” I choked on his name. I think Vaeyl uses her for his own sick pleasures, I said, straight to my brother’s mind.
I sent him a memory, one of Vaeyl touching her, then backhanding her when she tried to come to my defence.
Aenan’s eyes hardened. The look he exchanged with Caelan made me think they were speaking mind to mind.
“Is he dead?” I asked, suddenly needing to know.
My brother’s gaze softened as he looked at me.
“No, though I thought about it. Our plan was only to create enough of a distraction to give Caelan time to get you out, get you away. Vaeyl would have been laid up for a few days, though.” He glanced back to Caelan, his eyes steely. “That won’t be the plan next time.”
When the conversation veered off to less interesting topics, I left them to their discussion and went in search of Jesmina.
Aenan had told me she was a healer and could fix most things with her creams or tonics, so I wanted to see if she had something that could help with the brand on my neck.
The suspicion that my mate bond was blocked due to that had been playing on my mind ever since we had talked about it, and even though it made my stomach clench, I wanted those initials gone more.
I found her in the library, dusting some shelves. “Jesmina?”
She jumped half a foot and spun around so quickly I took a step back in fear myself. “Oh, milady, you scared me. I didn’t hear you come in,” she said with a hand to her chest.
“Are you all right?” I asked.
“I think that is the question I should be asking you,” she stated, her eyebrow raised.
“Oh, well. Um…” I looked away, wondering how I should start. “I was hoping you might have a cream or a tea, or something that could help with… Well, everything.”
She looked at me shrewdly. “Yes, I do. But I would need to examine you first, to see what it is that I need to treat. Would that be all right with you, milady?”
I took a deep breath and nodded before turning around and lifting my hair.
Half an hour later, I was worn out and weary.
Jesmina had asked so many questions. Most I could not answer.
She had clucked and fussed and checked me over with a critical eye, before leaving me alone to search for a book.
She had promised to deliver me a tonic, one that she said would help me to sleep.
She had already supplied me with a cream.
When she’d seen the wound on the back of my neck, she had assured me she believed it could be healed, and that whatever effects it had would wear off as it did so.
She had already applied a liberal dose of whatever was in that cream and bade me put it on morning and night.
The scent reminded me of chamomile tea, but I could also smell rosemary and other herbs.
I was surprisingly tired, and wondered how much one person could sleep, before recalling how little I’d actually had the night before. I wasn’t sure I was ready to relive more nightmare memories, though, so was fighting my fatigue with everything I had. Hence the search for a book.
I picked one off the shelf and was randomly flipping through its pages, my mind on other things, when a word drew my notice. Bonded. Quickly reading the sentence, I flipped to the front cover, looking for the title.
The Ancient Art of Love.
Ha. Trust me to find the fae equivalent of the Kama Sutra.
I turned back to the page I was on and worked backwards until I reached the start of the chapter. The title caused me to blush, but I was intrigued to know more, so, finding a chair nearby, I started to read.
I wasn’t sure how much time had elapsed, but when I looked up, my face still heated, it was to find Caelan seated opposite me.
I blinked at him, wondering how long he’d been there.
I’d been so engrossed in my reading that I had not heard him approach or sensed his gaze.
His amused expression should have warned me, and I let out a squeal when he plucked the book from my fingers.
“Hmm, what is it you’re reading that has you blushing so sweetly?
” he teased. “The Ancient Art of Love.” His eyebrows rose, intrigue on his face.
Playfully, he licked the tip of his finger and used it to turn the pages back to where I had been reading.
“Understanding your mate bond and how to use this to enhance your sexual experiences.” He choked and looked at me candidly. “Well, what do we have here, then?”
I was so embarrassed I was certain I was blushing from top to toe. “I… Ugh.”
I covered my face with my hands, but his laugh had me peeking out between my fingers.
It echoed with warmth, beginning as a gentle rumble, before bubbling up from deep within his chest and bursting forth in a cascade of rich, hearty tones.
It was vibrant and unrestrained, and I smiled upon hearing it.
I didn’t think I had ever heard him laugh like that before, and it wasn’t long before his infectious delight had me giggling as well.
He stopped then, staring at me with unbridled joy, his eyes crinkling at the corners.
His expression, so open and inviting, made me want to do things I wasn’t sure I was ready for.
But I was willing to try, so I shyly rose from my seat and perched upon his lap.
He went quite still at that, not daring even to breathe, and before I let doubt creep in, I reached up and captured that beautiful mouth with mine.
It was a sweet kiss, one to show him how much I missed him. How much I had missed this. But not one to indicate I wanted to take it any further. I ended it before it did.
“I—” I started to tell him how I felt, but cut off, not sure what to say.
“I know,” he whispered, and I believed him. Settling me more comfortably in his lap, he retrieved the dropped book and turned back to the page I had been reading. “Now, tell me what you have found that is so interesting.”
“Not here,” I said, turning the pages back. “This one.” I showed him the passage I had found, and he read it aloud.
“Bonded mates, though their union may not be sanctioned by all, shall be shielded from the malevolent forces that seek to sow discord. Their bond, forged in the fires of destiny, shall render them immune to the machinations of darkness, for as long as one of them remains steadfast in the light.” He raised his eyebrows at me.
“Read on,” I said.
“Yet should both partners falter and yield to the shadows that lurk within, then and only then shall they be vulnerable to the insidious grip of malevolence. It is thus foretold that the strength of their union lies not merely in acceptance, but in their shared resolve to resist the encroaching darkness, lest it consume them both…” His voice trailed off.
“What does it mean?” I asked, certain I already knew the answer but needing to hear it from his lips.
“I believe it’s saying bonded mates cannot be corrupted by dark forces – by the Dark Fae?”
“That’s how I interpreted as well.”
“This is very interesting indeed. What else does this book say?” He flipped back to the chapter on mate bonds and the sexual experience, and I hid a small smile as I leant back against his chest. “Maybe you should read it to me. You know, to strengthen your voice.”
I smiled wider and just shook my head, but began reading the page silently nonetheless.